The Last Things

1. The Last Things Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell

2. Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. (CCC 1013)

3. The Parable of the Wedding Feast • “Many are called, but few are chosen.”(Mt 22:1-14) “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mat 7:13-14)

4. Salvation: Our Choice • God wills all to be saved, and so he has made it possible. (CCC 55) • We must look for the means of salvation: where we spend eternity is our choice. • God our Savior… desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:3) • Even when he disobeyed you and lost your friendship you did not abandon him to the power of death… (Euch. Prayer IV, cf. CCC 55)

5. Atonement through the Messiah’s Redemptive Death • The atonement: reconciliation with God. • The restoration of God’s life within us.

6. The Definitive Sacrifice • Jesus’ death is: • the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world;” • the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the “blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”(CCC 613) • Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience.

7. Death • The separation of body and soul. (CCC 997) • The end of earthly life. (CCC 1007) • A consequence of sin, contrary to God’s plan. (CCC 1008, Gen 2:17, Rom 6:23) • Transformed by Christ. His obedience transformed the curse of death into a blessing. (CCC 1009) • Death is the irreversible entrance into everlasting life. • We shall not return to other earthly lives. There is no reincarnation after death. (CCC 1013) Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth... before the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. (Eccl 12:1, 7)

8. “Buried with Messiah” • Because of the Messiah, Christian death has a positive meaning. Through baptism, the Christian has already “died with Christ.” • Baptism signifies the descent into the tomb by the Christian who dies to sin with Christ in order to live a new life. (CCC 628) "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom 6:4)

9. Death in Messiah • If we die in the Messiah’s grace, physical death completes this “dying with Messiah” and completes our incorporation into his resurrection. (CCC 1010) • We must prepare ourselves for death. (CCC 1014) • For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain… my desire is to depart and be with Christ. (Phil 1:21, 23) • Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended. When the body of our earthly dwelling lies in death we gain an everlasting dwelling place in heaven. (Rom. Missal, Preface of Christian death I, cf. CCC 1012)

10. The Particular Judgment • Death puts an end to the time open to accept or reject the divine grace. (CCC 1021) • Each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works of faith. • Christ is the measuring rod. (CCC 679, 1022) And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. (Heb 9:27)

11. Heaven No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Cor 2:9) • The ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme definitive happiness. (CCC 1024) • The communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed. • The blessed retain their true identity; not dissolved into “nirvana.”(CCC 1025) • Images of heaven: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise. (CCC 1027) • The beatific vision: the contemplation of God in his heavenly glory. (CCC 1028) • The blessed will reign with Christ forever. (CCC 1029, Rev 22:5)

12. Purgatory • “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”(CCC 1030) • Purgatory: the final purification of the elect. • We cannot see God or enter heaven while we are impure, and thus mercy demands that there be a way for such purification to take place. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Cor 3:12-15)

13. Purgatory in the Bible? Prayers for the Dead Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen…Then under the tunic of each one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear… And they turned to supplication, praying that the sin that had been committed might be wholly blotted out… He also took up a collection…and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin. (2 Mac 12:39-45) • Our prayers for those who have died are capable of helping them. (CCC 958)

14. Purgatory in the Bible? • In the Old Testament: Sheol is the abode of the dead • “The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me.”(Ps 18:5) • “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”(Ps 16:10, cf. Ps 6:4-5, Ps 55:15) • In the New Testament: Sheol = Hades • Acts 2:27 quotes Ps 16:10 • Sheolis not hell (gehenna), “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.”(Mk 9:44) • At the end of times: “death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.”(Rev 20:14)

15. The Rich Man and Lazarus • The rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) • Rich man in “Hades.” • Still talks with Abraham; • has mercy on his brothers; • Christ “went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient.”(1 Pet 3:19, Eph 4:9)

16. Not a “second chance” after death. Only the “saved” may go through purgatory. The final stage of the application of the work of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Sanctification must be completed for salvation: “Nothing unclean will enter heaven.” (Rev 21:27) We are not only considered righteous (snow-covered dunghill), but made righteous by the grace and power of God. We are purified through suffering: “He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.”(1 Pet 4:1) We must labor until Christ is fully formed in us. (Gal 4:19) E.g. Unrequisited love is painful. Why Purgatory?

17. Temporal Punishment • Sin has a double consequence: • Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and makes us incapable of eternal life (“eternal punishment”). • Every sin entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either on earth, or after death in purgatory. This purification frees one from the “temporal punishment” of sin. (CCC 1472) • The forgiveness of sin entails the remission of the eternal punishment, but temporal punishment remains. Sin always has consequences. (CCC 1473) • E.g. David’s sin: he was forgiven, but his child died. (2 Sam 12:13-14)

18. The Church Helps Us • Means to take care of unhealthy attachments: • Works of mercy; “charity covers a multitude of sins;”(CCC 2447) • Works of penance, fasting, prayer, almsgiving; (CCC 1434, 1460) • Prayer for the dead; (CCC 1032) • Indulgences (CCC 1471); • Sacrifice of the Mass. (CCC 1436) • Purgatory, the “final purification of elect.”(CCC 1031) • The role of the Church and power of the keys is crucial in God’s provision of our “sin problem.”(CCC 1032, 1478) • Apostolic pardon

19. Early Christian Testimony • The Acts of Paul and Thecla: • "And after the exhibition, Tryphaena again received her [Thecla]. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: ‘Mother, you shall have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the righteous.’" (Acts of Paul and Thecla[A.D. 160]) • Epitaph of Abercius: • "The citizen of a prominent city, I erected this while I lived, that I might have a resting place for my body. Abercius is my name, a disciple of the chaste Shepherd who feeds his sheep on the mountains and in the fields, who has great eyes surveying everywhere, who taught me the faithful writings of life. Standing by, I, Abercius, ordered this to be inscribed: Truly, I was in my seventy-second year. May everyone who is in accord with this and who understands it pray for Abercius." (Epitaph of Abercius[A.D. 190])

20. The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity • "[T]hat very night, this was shown to me in a vision: I [Perpetua] saw Dinocrates going out from a gloomy place, where also there were several others, and he was parched and very thirsty, with a filthy countenance and pallid color, and the wound on his face which he had when he died. This Dinocrates had been my brother after the flesh, seven years of age, who died miserably with disease. . . . For him I had made my prayer, and between him and me there was a large interval, so that neither of us could approach to the other . . . and [I] knew that my brother was in suffering. But I trusted that my prayer would bring help to his suffering; and I prayed for him every day until we passed over into the prison of the camp, for we were to fight in the camp-show. Then . . . I made my prayer for my brother day and night, groaning and weeping that he might be granted to me. Then, on the day on which we remained in fetters, this was shown to me: I saw that the place which I had formerly observed to be in gloom was now bright; and Dinocrates, with a clean body well clad, was finding refreshment. . . . [And] he went away from the water to play joyously, after the manner of children, and I awoke. Then I understood that he was translated from the place of punishment." (The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity 2:3–4 [A.D. 202])

21. Tertullian, Cyprian • Tertullian: • "We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday anniversaries. [the date of death—birth into eternal life]" (The Crown 3:3 [A.D. 211]) • "A woman, after the death of her husband . . . prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his death, she offers the sacrifice." (Monogamy 10:1–2 [A.D. 216]) • Cyprian of Carthage • It is one thing to stand for pardon, another thing to attain to glory; it is one thing, when cast into prison, not to go out thence until one has paid the uttermost farthing; another thing at once to receive the wages of faith and courage. It is one thing, tortured by long suffering for sins, to be cleansed and long purged by fire; another to have purged all sins by suffering. It is one thing, in fine, to be in suspense till the sentence of God at the day of judgment; another to be at once crowned by the Lord" (Letters 51[55]:20 [A.D. 253]).

22. Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nyssa • Cyril of Jerusalem • "Then we make mention also of those who have already fallen asleep: first, the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition; next, we make mention also of the holy fathers and bishops who have already fallen asleep, and, to put it simply, of all among us who have already fallen asleep, for we believe that it will be of very great benefit to the souls of those for whom the petition is carried up, while this holy and most solemn sacrifice is laid out." (Catechetical Lectures 23:5:9 [A.D. 350]) • Gregory of Nyssa • “[A man will find] that he is not able to partake of divinity until he has been purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying fire." (Sermon on the Dead [A.D. 382])

23. John Chrysostom, Augustine of Hippo • John Chrysostom • “If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice [Job 1:5], why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them" (Homilies on First Corinthians 41:5 [A.D. 392]). • St. Augustine • "Temporal punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by some after death, by some both here and hereafter, but all of them before that last and strictest judgment. But not all who suffer temporal punishments after death will come to eternal punishments, which are to follow after that judgment" (The City of God 21:13 [A.D. 419]). • "That there should be some fire even after this life is not incredible, and it can be inquired into and either be discovered or left hidden whether some of the faithful may be saved, some more slowly and some more quickly in the greater or lesser degree in which they loved the good things that perish, through a certain purgatorial fire" (Handbook on Faith, Hope and Charity 18:69 [A.D.421]).

24. Hell • We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. • To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. (CCC 1033) • Hell: The definitive self-exclusion from God and from the blessed. • The existence of hell is a call to responsibility and a call to conversion. (CCC 1036) • God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. (CCC 1037)

25. Jesus and Hell • And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. (Isa 66:24) • If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Mt 5:29) • And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mt 10:28) • The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Mt 13:42) • "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”(Mt 25:41)

26. The Resurrection of the Body • At the end of the world, God will “grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection.”(CCC 997) • All the dead will rise, “those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.”(CCC 998, Dan 12:2)

27. The Supernatural Life • Our human nature is not fit for life in heaven. • We need extra powers in our soul in order that we may live the life of heaven: the Supernatural Life (grace). • We must obtain from God the supernatural life. • This supernatural life is given to us in the Church’s liturgy and sacraments. © 2007 Catholics for Israel (www.israelcatholic.com)